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No point of reference
A society that has no point of reference for shame, reason, and meaning has very little to offer its upcoming generation of leaders and young people. Our youth are searching for strength with which to live their lives, goodness by which to live, and freedom in which to live. Where are the answers, when religion is removed?
Ravi recalls a note which his pastor gave him years ago, written by a teenager. The troubled youth had attended some meetings and wanted to meet privately with the pastor. Unfortunately, just before the pastor arrived at his home, the young man had committed suicide. He left behind the following poem:
Lost in a world of darkness
without a guiding light,
Seeking a friend to help
my struggling, failing plight.
Now all of you good people
just go on passing by,
Leaving me with nothing
but this lonely will to die.
Somewhere in this lonely world
of sorrow and of woe
There's a place for me to hide,
but where I do not know;
For no matter where I go
I never will escape
The devil's reaching, clutching hands,
or the drink of fermented grape.
So out of grief and anguish
Perhaps some wandering boy will see,
Long after I have left this world,
And build his own life, strong and good and free.
Young people need an answer to life's most important question. According to the historical evidence, Jesus is the answer. As we have discovered, there is overwhelming legal-historic evidence to support the claims of the Bible, the claims of Jesus Christ, and the fact of the resurrection. People are free to accept or reject the evidence, but they are not free to squelch the ability to share it.
You cannot live a double-minded life. Your actions in public and your beliefs in private cannot be separated. One Christian leader has said that Privatization is little more than rationalized hypocrisy.
The Scriptures and history books are filled with examples and lessons from history about the nations that flourished or died because of their character or level of personal coherence. In the next few sessions, we'll take a look at the voices of the past.
What do You Think?
 Recently, many people have argued that the private behavior and personal beliefs of politicians should have no bearing on how we vote. If we understand that privatization of belief is a flawed theory which rips the innate moral nature of man from life and from personal responsibility, how should we respond to these claims?
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